{% include "includes/auth/janrain/signIn_traditional.html" with message='It looks like you are already verified. If you still have trouble signing in, you probably need a new confirmation link email.' %}

Why I will be wearing red on Friday. (And why you should, too.)

If you’re like me, you’ve always thought of heart disease as someone else’s problem. The grandparents. The in-laws. The big guy in the office who munches vending machine potato chips every day at 4.

Well, this year has been a bit of a shocker.

After a busy holiday season of working, eating, baking, celebrating, and falling out of my old exercise routine, I went in for a blood test and got results I had never seen before. My weight had hit a new high, and my other numbers were bad. Blood sugar, triglicerides, you name it.

Was that really me? The person who never had to think about such things?

Hellooooooo 40s.

I realized I’m at a turning point, and I have a choice: Get serious about my health, or just give up.

Giving up would be so easy. The kids want ice cream. Why not? There’s a great movie on TV. I’ll go out for a walk later. It’s a special occasion so we have to go out for fondue. There’s Facebook, Twitter, the Wii, the online sale….wait a minute. How many hours have I spent in a chair today?

It adds up. It adds up to this:

One in four women who died in 2008 died from heart disease, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It kills more than 300,000 U.S. women a year.

According to the CDC:

Every year about 785,000 Americans have a first heart attack. Another 470,000 who have already had one or more heart attacks have another attack.

Almost two-thirds of the women who die suddenly of coronary heart disease have no previous symptoms. Even if you have no symptoms, you may still be at risk for heart disease.

I realized that even I had some risk factors: Grandparents who had died of stroke. Insufficient exercise. A diet that included too many sweets, carbs, sodas and salty stuff purchased through drive-through windows — always in a rush. I wasn’t a smoker, but I did have a job that involved long hours of sitting and a fair amount of stress.

1) I’m keeping a food diary. I’ve seen studies that show people trying to lose weight were twice as successful if they kept track. There are lots of ways to do that. I’m finding an iPhone app called MyFitnessPal is making is very easy and rewarding, and it’s teaching me about where the gaps are in my nutrition. Love it.

2) I’m adding activity everywhere I can. Taking the stairs. Walking the dog for much, much longer than usual. (Oh, is he ever happy.) Listening to upbeat music while I walk/run. Doing a half hour of stretches, sit-ups and push-ups most mornings. I wish I could spend a couple of hours at a gym or on a tennis court each day, but I’m in working-mom world, so I will do whatever I can squeeze in to my schedule.

4) Two words: Nutrition density. Every time there’s a menu choice, I look for the one that I know has the most nutrition per calorie and the least commercial processing. That means loads of veggies, whole grains, salads, nuts, beans, fish and mushrooms.

Fighting heart disease in this country is something that every one of us has to do, on our own, every day, by making better choices and taking care of ourselves. When was the last time you had a physical? Do you know your cholesterol and blood sugar numbers?